We are looking forward to welcoming our students back for the second half term, please take the time to read the Principal's blog, looking back on the first half term at Longley Park.
Principal’s Blog: An exciting first half-term full of activity and learning
The first half-term passed very quickly. The last time I wrote, it was the week before enrolment. We were thrilled to enrol almost 1,200 students to the college and welcome them the following week through our induction week. Here, we made the Longley Park expectations clear, and I gave them this Welcome message. It has been pleasing to speak with so many students since then about their start to the year, how they are enjoying their studies and being back to ‘normal’ learning.
It seems a long time ago when many of you attended our Parents and Careers welcome event back in September (if you missed it, you can see a recording of the event here). Since then, our students have been busy getting back into learning and starting their own Project You+ journeys.
We launched our Project You+ with an amazing Freshers’ Fair with over 25 different activities, clubs, and societies to choose from, table tennis tournaments, FIFA, keep fit competitions and an outside disco. It really was a high point of the half-term. It was great to see our students just enjoying all the extra opportunities Longley Park has on offer.
As you are all aware, our key expectations are: Attend, Engage and Respect. We have had several issues with some of our students congregating around the local area and causing some distress to our neighbours. Please be mindful of our neighbours and their homes. Also, please remember that you cannot drop off or collect students from outside of the college. This causes dangerous obstructions onto Barnsley Road.
Throughout October, we have celebrated Black History Month across the college and within departments. We had a special focus on the ‘Lit in Colour’ Campaign and had a wide selection of books available to staff and students in the library.
On Saturday, 16th October, we had our first open event of the year. Over 400 people attended to talk about how Longley Park can be part of their next steps. It was lovely to hear the feedback from parents and students about how excited they were to join us and how impressed they were about our curriculum and extra-curricular offer. I was so proud of our student ambassadors who were brilliant and professional welcoming our guests and giving them tours of the college.
With COVID and a return to the new normal, we have seen attendance a little lower than we would like. We will be writing to students and parents/carers in the next few days where we have serious concerns. Every missed lesson will have a negative impact on achievement. Can I encourage parents/carers to log into Cedar where you can see lots of information on attendance, progress, and concerns. You can see details on how to access it here.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi and Health Secretary Sajid Javid have written a joint letter to parents of secondary school and college students to thank them for all their efforts in keeping education safe for all during the pandemic and talk about the importance of vaccinations and regular testing. You can read the letter here.
As students are preparing to come back to college after the break, can I reiterate the importance of regular lateral flow testing. With the number of cases at the highest level since January, we all need to play our part in keeping our community safe. Testing kits can be collected from the main reception at any point.
Looking forward in to the next half-term, there are lots of important dates and exciting opportunities. For our final years who are applying to university or higher education, our deadline for applications is mid-November. If students need any support, they can visit our Pathways team in the Plaza, speak with their academic tutor or attend one of our personal statements workshops every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-4pm.
We have a Level 1 Parents and Careers event on 11th November. In a few weeks we are inviting many Universities and Higher Education providers to our two day HE (Higher Education) Conference. It is never too early to start thinking about what opportunities there are after Longley Park.
In November, we will be reflecting on all those who have fought and made sacrifices in wars across the world with our ‘Longley Park Remembers’ events and taking part in Remembrance Day on the 11th November.
As part of the Government’s catch-up response, we have been given the resources to support our students where there is significant lost learning. We have appointed 9 Progress Tutors who will be working with small groups of students referred by teachers. Students will be able to self-refer for mentor support to get help with revision planning and organisation too. I encourage all students engage with this additional support to help them be successful.
For those of you on L1, L2 and L3 year two, there are only 20 weeks until the final assessments are here. Make effective use of every day. Good luck to the students who are sitting GCSE English and maths exams next week (results from these exams will be released on 14th January).
Do contact me at principal@longleypark.ac.uk with any comments or queries. If it is specific to an individual student, it may be more appropriate to make initial contact with the academic tutor first.
